An evaluation of strategies for production of Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis Niloticus L.) fry suitable for hormonal treatment

Abstract

Intensive methods for the mass production of Oreochromis niloticus (Chitralada strain) seed using concrete tanks, hapas within earthen ponds and earthen ponds were investigated. On the basis of these trials, the productivity and economic performance of various production strategies for hormonally sex-reversed Oreochromis fry (MT fry) were then compared and modelled for adoption in Central and Northeast Thailand. Regular disturbance and harvesting of seed after a short period of spawning opportunity (5-10 days) was found to increase seed production in concrete spawning tanks. Exchange of female broodfish increased synchrony of breeding. A change in conditioning and spawning environment had no effect on seed yield from spawning tanks and hapas (area =12.57 m2and 40m2 respectively). Seed wet weight, seed clutch size and weight was greater in female fish spawned in tanks than hapas. Females conditioned in hapas however produced heavier seed clutches of larger absolute and relative size than tank conditioned fish. Records of tagged females indicated considerable differences in the frequency of spawning; in hapas the distribution was normal wheras in tanks it was skewed. The evidence suggests that hierarchy is important in the control of reproduction and exerts it's strongest effect in clear water, densely stocked tanks. Selective female broodfish exchange optimised seed yield per unit weight of broodfish and seed production was not improved by conditioning females for periods longer than 10 days. Male broodfish exchange did not significantly improve (P > 0.05) seed yields. Early nutrition of broodfish raised under different supplemental feeding regimes in fertilised earthen ponds had a significant effect on later spawning frequency in concrete tanks. However, this effect was confined to broodfish maintained at densities lower or higher than optimal for seed production. Broodfish stocked over a range of densities for extended periods (201 days) showed greater variability of seed production in hapa than tank production systems. This was mainly due to periods of poor water quality in hapas; when water quality was high seed production was significantly higher in hapas than tanks over a range of broodfish densities. The optimal density of broodfish for seed production was exceeded in tanks but not hapas. The relationship between seed production and broodfish density over time suggested that both stocking biomass and number have an effect on fry output. Density of broodfish showed an inverse relationship to clutch size in both tanks and hapas and synchrony of spawning in tanks. Production of swim-up fry in large earthen ponds (area=1740m2) was not significantly different (P>0.05) at 2 levels of harvest intensity. The use of small broodfish however produced double the yield of hormone treatable fry than a similar biomass of larger broodfish of the same cohort. A commercial scale incubation system was devised and evaluated in order to allow tank and hapa systems harvesting unhatched seed to be compared with the production of swim-up fry obtained from earthen ponds. Seed removed from mouthbrooding females was roughly staged and incubated in batches of similar development to give information on survival to swim-up fry. A simple incubation system was designed with a capacity for hatching >100,000 eggs/set. A mean survival of 75% of all harvested seed to swim-up fry was obtained over several trials. A trend to intensification (fry/mVday) from ponds to hapas to tanks was evident when yields of swim-up fry are compared. Productivity exceeded any in the published literature for comparable systems, largely because of the intensity of broodstock management and early and efficient harvest of seed. Broodfish productivities (fry/kg female/month) were also higher across the range of systems tested often by a factor of 1.5-3. The best strategies were selected over a range of total investment cost using dominance analysis. Economic analysis suggested that for a start-up operation in Central Thailand fry production in earthen ponds can give the best return on levels of investment of less than Baht 0.8 million. Substitution of techniques into current carp fry production operations in Northeast Thailand indicated that more intensive methods (production in tanks and hapas) are more attractive over a range of investment levels. The break-even price of MT fry after hormone treatment in nylon hapas was approximately half the cost of treatment in a recirculated water concrete tank system. The break-even price in Central Thailand was lower than the Northeast by a factor of around 1.5 but the break-even price for both areas was lower than the current price of untreated Oreochromis fry.